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The Boss has been kidnapped. But, instead of raiding the executive drinks cabinet like any sane person would, you set off to get the thugs who snatched him. As you wander the wild streets of New York, a terrible feeling of paranoia wells up inside your stomach. Yup, you guessed it, everyone you meet wants to kick the crap out of you.

Wild Streets is a beat-'em-up with a difference. There are far too many baddies to deal with on your own, so you're given two valuable weapons - a gun and a large black panther. Surprisingly, the panther is the more useful weapon of the two - it follows you around each level attacking baddies at random, killing them with one swipe of its claws. The gun, however, can only be used when the enemies are a certain distance away - at close range all you're left with is your fists and the lucky horseshoes in the toes of your trainers.

At the end of each level of baddie-bashing debauchery you have to take on a big meanie who's tough, mean and hard to beat. The panther helpfully deserts you at this point.

The first thing you notice about this game is how dated it looks - all the sprites, except the panther, are badly animated, and your character minces along the streets with a swagger more akin to Julian Clary than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Annoyingly, a lot of the fist fights take place on the edge of the game screen, so you often can't see what's going on. The joystick controls are also very vague and you're never sure what move your character's going to make next. The whole thing is very slow and lacks any sense of excitement or tension.

Wild Streets is a sad, rather dated beat-'em-up with few redeeming features. The gameplay is monotonous, the joystick controls frustrating and the graphics laughable. Watching the cat leap on its victims is entertaining at first, but you're soon on the phone to the vet asking for a lethal injection.

You get to thump lots of people. Again. And again. And again. Yawn.

Dated beat-'em-up with woolly joystick controls.